Westfield High School senior deadlifts more than average man, says it’s for fun
By Anna Skinner
When someone first sees Westfield High School senior Ellen Joseph, they see a normal girl. They don’t realize that she can deadlift 225 pounds, squat 165 pounds and do more chin-ups than the average man. However, Ellen isn’t training for a specific sport or competition. She just likes to strength train for fun.
“I just love all the people at the gym, but I also love how strong I feel and the confidence I have gained from it,” Ellen said. “It’s also good for stress, and when I have a busy schedule and everything else is going on, I know I can go to the gym and let it all out there.”
Ellen began strength training in the spring of her freshman year, around 2012, to help heal an injury in her sacrum iliac joint – located in the hip – caused by running cross country and track in her middle school years. Ellen saw a physical therapist and began training to strengthen the muscles around the joint and lessen the pain.
“I started weight lifting to help with that pain. I just kept doing it because I liked working out and getting stronger,” she said.
Ellen attends Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training in Fishers. Ann Joseph, her mother and a teacher at Washington Woods Elementary, introduced her to the gym because that is where she went.
IFAST has a physical therapist and a personal trainer that assist Ellen with her progress. Her schedule consists of two different days – one for deadlifts, chin-ups and exercises in that department, and one for rowing, squatting and other activities. She tries to go to the gym three days a week, and alternates between the different schedules.
“I am very proud of Ellen’s willingness to try new things and challenge herself,” Ann said. “She has a natural talent in so many different areas whether it’s in the arts, academics, athletics or in the kitchen, and she is not afraid to go for it!”
About a year after Ellen joined her mother in strength training at IFAST, her younger sister Gwen also began training with Ellen and Ann. Ellen said strength training has become a mother-daughter event.
Ann said she hopes that through early training, Ellen and Gwen will make taking care of themselves and being strong a healthy, lifelong habit.
“It’s definitely been a mom and daughter thing, the three of us all go together,” Ellen said. “We encourage each other and are supportive with one another with lifting and trying our hardest and not being afraid to try anything new. It’s definitely been a family thing.”
Ellen plans on using her experience with strength training to apply for some college scholarships that focus on non-athletes who are involved in fitness and how fitness affects their lives. She wants to go to Purdue University, where she will study aeronomical and astronomical engineering.
Ellen also spends time rock-climbing with WHS’s rock climbing club every Wednesday at Hoosier Heights. She said that Purdue has a good gym with rock climbing walls where she can be active.
Although IFAST does host power lifting meets, Ellen has never competed in a competition. Strength training is not a sport to her, but a hobby.
“My main goal is not to have any pain in my hip anymore,” she said. “I don’t go for a sport, it’s more of a hobby. Other high schoolers that go to the gym train for a specific sport, but I don’t.”
GET TO KNOW ELLEN JOSEPH
Age: 18
Family: Ann Joseph (mother), teacher at Washington Woods; Mike Joseph (father); Gwen Joseph (sister), sophomore at WHS.
Favorite movie: “Lord of the Rings” series, “I grew up watching those. I love the story. I read the books, and I think it’s a good plot.”
Hobbies: Strength training, rock climbing, yoga, WHS Yearbook, Student Impact Volleyball and Student Impact Dodgeball
